Battle of Chehalis

     The Battle of Chehalis turned out better than expected.  Even with a temperature spike, Co. D dominated the field.  We welcomed new recruit Private Tiller who performed admirably on a very technical battle weekend.  Saturday's drill ended up a bit of a wash as battalion didn't seem to know what was going on, except they wanted us standing around aimlessly until they were ready for a brief instruction almost an hour after the scheduled time.  Sunday's drill was very fruitful since it was company drill.  We got down to business focusing again heavily on tactics and deployment.  Our NCO corps has really found its groove as we thoroughly began to shine as platoons.  Sunday's morning battle saw us swinging out into three L shaped ambushes on the secessionists.  First, we locked down a Confederate company so tight, they had to be relieved and reset.  Later in that same battle, we sent out 2nd Sgt. Spiekerman's 2nd platoon on another L formation which led to the easy capture of a squad of unsupported Confederates.  During one of my more epic death scenes, Private Glasgow took a great opportunity to roll my body over and use me as a sandbag. Our platoons have really coalesced into cohesive and independent fighting units.  Our NCOs did an amazing job with Corporals Hardway and Soderling being true professionals on the line.  Also during drill on Sunday, we practiced advancing at the low the crawl and Private Cook did a wonderful job instructing the company in proper technique.
     When not defending the Union on the battlefield, we caught up on local newspapers from home and even shared a spare copy of the Rockland Gazette with fellow Rockland man, Captain Keene of Company F, 20th Maine.  Everyone was on top of things with camp duties and we had plenty of time to socialize.  Company D hosted the joint battalion social as we continued to build friendship across lines.  Private Severson worked on perfecting his burgoo recipe each morning, cooking over the camp fire, and Private Ternan continued her excellent instruction on Sharps maintenance and cleaning.  It was great spending time with everyone during our last battle event of the year.
     Our next event will be our annual living history weekend at Ft. Stevens, August 2-4 and we look forward to seeing everyone there for a great weekend of drill and demonstrations for the public.